Rice bread touted as way to increase rice consumption

A local agricultural station recently introduced a new type of rice flour that can be used to make bread with a higher rice component, in the hope of boosting domestic rice consumption.

The flour, along with rice bread, other rice-based food products and new baking technology, were showcased at a product promotion fair held by the Tainan District Agricultural Research and Extension Station under the Council of Agriculture.

The TN-D80 rice flour, made from domestic rice variety “Tainan 11,” can be used to bake bread that contains up to 80 percent rice flour and has the same texture and softness as bread made from wheat flour, agricultural station director-general Dennis Wang (王仕賢) said.

Wang said that rice bread currently sold on the market uses wheat flour as its main ingredient and contains between 30 percent and 50 percent of rice flour.

However, bread made from the station’s newly developed rice flour contains no wheat flour and only a small amount of gluten, Wang said.

He said that the station’s technology is on a par with that in Japan, where rice bread is becoming increasingly popular.

If Taiwan-produced black beans, sweet potatoes, sesame seeds, burdock, carrots and other ingredients are added to the rice bread, it will not only increase domestic rice consumption, but also help other areas of local agriculture to thrive, Wang said.

The Tainan station has also developed rice flour for home bakers.

Although at present, rice flour is more expensive than wheat flour, improved rice--milling technology or the use of less expensive broken rice to make the flour could bring down the price and boost the competitiveness of the product, he said.

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